Thin plate supporting container

ABSTRACT

Particle adhesion to a gap between a container main body and a lid unit is reduced to prevent the particle intrusion into the container main body. The inside of a thin plate supporting container is kept clean, and semiconductor wafers and the like are stored in the thin plate supporting container. The thin plate supporting container includes the container main body in which the semiconductor wafers are stored and the lid unit which blocks the container main body. In the thin plate supporting container, a protection film is provided while the gap between the lid unit and the container main body is covered with the protection film. Adhesion properties are imparted to the protection film, so that the protection film is easy to attach and detach. The protection film is formed in a size in which the entire side surface of the lid unit of the container main body is covered with the protection film. The lid unit is attached to the entire side surface of the container main body. The particles are prevented from intruding into the gap between the lid unit and the container main body by bonding the protection film. Therefore, the particles are prevented from intruding into the container main body along with the entrained air when the lid unit is detached from the container main body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims, under 35 USC 119, priority of JapaneseApplication No. 2004-247161 filed Aug. 26, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a thin plate supporting container usedfor storage, transport, and the like of thin plates such assemiconductor wafers, storage disks, and liquid crystal glass substrateswhile the inside of the container is kept clean.

The thin plate supporting container used for the storage and transportof the thin plates such as the semiconductor wafers is well known.

The thin plate supporting container mainly includes a container mainbody and a lid unit with which an upper opening of the container mainbody is covered. A member which supports the thin plates such as thesemiconductor wafer is provided inside the container main body. In orderto prevent contamination of a surface of the thin plate such as thesemiconductor wafer stored in the thin plate supporting container, it isnecessary to transport the thin plate supporting container while theinside of the container is kept clean, so that the thin plate supportingcontainer is sealed. That is, the lid unit is fixed to the containermain body to seal the container main body.

When the thin plate is taken out from and put in the inside of the thinplate supporting container, the lid unit is detached from the containermain body to release the inside, and the thin plate is automaticallytaken out and put in by a transfer machine.

An example of the thin plate supporting container is disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-174080.

However, in the above-described lid unit, when the lid unit is detachedfrom the container main body, a negative pressure is temporarily createdin the inside of the container main body, which results in an airentrainment phenomenon in a gap between the container main body and thelid unit.

In this case, when particles exist in the gap between the container mainbody and the lid unit, the particles intrude into the container mainbody along with the entrained air to contaminate the surface of the thinplate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide athin plate supporting container which reduces the particle adhesion tothe gap between the container main body and the lid unit to prevent theparticle intrusion.

According to the present invention, there is provided a thin platesupporting container which stores thin-plates therein while the insideof the container is kept clean comprising a container main body in whichthe thin-plates are stored; and a lid unit which blocks the containermain body, wherein a protection film is provided while a gap between thelid unit and the container main body is covered with the protectionfilm.

According to the above configuration, since the gap between the lid unitand the container main body is covered with the protection film, theparticles cannot intrude into the gap between the lid unit and thecontainer main body. Therefore, the particles are prevented fromintruding into the container main body along with the entrained air,when the lid unit is detached from the container main body.

It is desirable that adhesion properties are imparted to the protectionfilm. Therefore, the protection film is easy to attach and detach afterthe thin plates are stored in the container main body to attach the lidunit. Further, when the thin plates are taken out at the destination,the protection film can easily be peeled off.

It is desirable that the protection film is formed in a size in whichthe protection film covers the entire side surface of the lid unit inthe container main body to which the lid unit is attached. Therefore,even when the lid unit has a complicated structure due to anattaching/detaching mechanism and the like, because the particleintrusion into the gap of such the complicated mechanism is eliminated,the particles which potentially intrude into the gap between the lidunit and the container main body from the surroundings are eliminated,and the particles which intrude into the container main body from thegap between the lid unit and the container main body can be largelyreduced.

When the lid unit has a simple structure having no attaching/detachingmechanism, because a small number of particles potentially intrude intothe gap between the lid unit and the container main body from thesurroundings, the protection film may be provided such that a perimeterof the gap between the lid unit and the container main body is coveredwith the protection film.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a thin plate supporting containeraccording to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a modification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment ofthe invention will be described below. The thin plate supportingcontainer of the invention is one which is used for the storage, thetransport, and the like while the thin plates such as the semiconductorwafers, the storage disks, and the liquid crystal glass substrates arestored in the thin plate supporting container. The thin plate supportingcontainer in which the semiconductor wafers are stored will be describedby way of illustration.

As shown in FIG. 1, a thin plate supporting container 1 according to anembodiment includes a container main body 2 in which a plurality ofsemiconductor wafers (not shown) are stored and a lid unit 3 whichblocks the container main body 2.

The entire container main body 2 is formed in a substantial cube. Whenthe container main body 2 is placed in a vertical position as shown inFIG. 1, a lid unit holder 4 into which the lid unit 3 is fitted isprovided in an upper end portion of the container main body 2. The lidunit holder 4 is formed while the upper end portion of the containermain body 2 is enlarged to dimensions of the lid unit 3. Therefore, thelid unit 3 is fitted in the lid unit holder 4 to seal the inside ofcontainer main body 2.

A thin plate holder (not shown), which supports the semiconductor wafersstored inside the container main body 2 from both sides, is provided inthe container main body 2. A top flange 5 which is grasped by an arm ofa conveying apparatus (not shown) in a factory, a carrying handle 6which an operator grasps when the operator manually carries the thinplate supporting container 1, positioning means (not shown), and thelike are provided in an outside surface of the container main body 2.

The lid unit 3 is formed in a rectangle thick plate. The lid unit 3 isfitted in the lid unit holder 4 of the container main body 2 to seal theinside of the container main body 2. A wafer retainer 8 is provided in alower surface of the lid unit 3. The wafer retainer 8 supports thesemiconductor wafers stored inside the container main body 2 from theupper side. A simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 9 is provided inan upper surface of the lid unit 3. The simplified attaching/detachingmechanism 9 is a device which fixes the lid unit 3 to the container mainbody 3 side, and the simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 9 has alid unit latch pawl which emerges from an outer peripheral surface ofthe lid unit 3.

A sealing member (not shown) which is seals the inside of the containermain body 2 is provided between the lid unit holder 4 and the lid unit3. The inside of the container main body 2 is kept clean by sealing thecontainer main body 2 with the sealing member, and the particles areprevented from intruding into the container main body 2.

A protection film 11 is provided in the upper surface (surface on thelid unit 3 side) of the container main body 2 to which the lid unit 3 isattached. The protection film 11 is one which prevents the particlesfrom intruding into the gap between the container main body 2 and thelid unit 3. The protection film 11 is formed in a size in which theentire upper surface of the container main body 2 is covered withprotection film 11. The reason why the protection film 11 is formed inthe above size is that the particles intrusion from the simplifiedattaching/detaching mechanism 9 side is considered. That is, inconsideration of both the particles which directly intrude into an areanear the sealing member from the gap between the container main body 2and the lid unit 3 and the particles which intrude into the gap from anemerging hole of the lid unit latch pawl of the simplifiedattaching/detaching mechanism 9, the protection film 11 is formed in thesize in which the entire upper surface of the container main body 2 iscovered with the protection film 11. The protection film 11 is formed byan air-impermeable transparent plastic film.

Adhesion properties are imparted to a backside of the protection film 11such that the protection film 11 is attachable to and detachable fromthe container main body 2 and the lid unit 3. Adhesion strength of thebackside of the protection film 11 is set such that the gap between thecontainer main body 2 and the lid unit 3 can be sealed by bonding theprotection film 11 easily, and the protection film 11 can easily bepeeled off.

The thin plate supporting container 1 having the above configuration isused in the following way.

First, the lid unit 3 of the thin plate supporting container 1 isdetached from the container main body 2, and the plurality ofsemiconductor wafers are stored in the container main body 2. Then, thelid unit 3 is attached to the lid unit holder 4 of the container mainbody 2 to fix the container main body 2 and the lid unit 3 each otherwith the simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 9. Then, theprotection film 11 is adhered to cover the container main body 2 and theentire upper surface of the lid unit 3.

In the state of things, the thin plate supporting container 1 isconveyed. In conveying the thin plate supporting container 1, theparticles adhere to the outer periphery of the thin plate supportingcontainer 1. At this point, near the lid unit 3 of the thin platesupporting container 1, the entire upper surface of the container mainbody 2 is covered with the protection film 11 while the lid unit 3 iscompletely covered with the protection film 11. Therefore, the particlescan be prevented from intruding into the gap between the container mainbody 2 and the lid unit 3 and the simplified attaching/detachingmechanism 9.

After the thin plate supporting container arrives at a destination, theprotection film 11 is peeled off, the lid unit 3 is detached from thecontainer main body 2, and the semiconductor wafers are taken out fromthe inside of the container main body 2.

As described above, since the gap between the container main body 2 andthe lid unit 3 is covered with the protection film 11, the particles donot intrude into the gap between the container main body 2 and the lidunit 3, and the particles are not entrained inside the container mainbody 2 along with the air when the lid unit 3 is detached from thecontainer main body 2. Accordingly, when the lid unit 3 is detached, theinside of the container main body 2 can also be kept clean, and thesemiconductor wafers stored in the container main body 2 can beprevented from contaminating the surface.

Since the adhesion properties are imparted to the protection film 11,the protection film 11 can easily be adhered and peeled off, whichimproves workability in conveying the thin plate supporting container 1.

Since protection film 11 is formed in the size in which the entiresurface on the lid unit 3 side of the container main body 2 to which thelid unit 3 is attached is covered with protection film 11, the particlescan be prevented from intruding into the gap between the container mainbody 2 and the lid unit 3 and the gap of the simplifiedattaching/detaching mechanism 9 in the lid unit 3. Therefore, theparticles which intrude into the gap between the container main body 2and the lid unit 3 from the emerging hole of the lid unit latch pawl ofthe simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 9 can be eliminated whilethe particles which directly intrude into the gap between the containermain body 2 and the lid unit 3 can be eliminated, which allows theparticles to be prevented from intruding into the container main body 2from the gap between the container main body 2 and the lid unit 3 inopening the thin plate supporting container 1. Accordingly, when the lidunit 3 is detached, the inside of the container main body 2 can also bekept clean, and the semiconductor wafers stored in the container mainbody 2 can be prevented from contaminating.

Modifications

(1) In the above embodiment, the protection film 11 is formed in thesize in which the entire surface of the container main body 2 to whichthe lid unit 3 is attached is covered with the protection film 11.However, as shown in FIG. 2, a protection film 12 may be formed in arectangular annular shape such that only a perimeter of the gap betweenthe container main body 2 and the lid unit 3 is covered with theprotection film 12. In the case of the lid unit 3 having a simplestructure in which the simplified attaching/detaching mechanism 9 andthe like do not exist, because a small number of particles potentiallyintrude into the gap between the container main body 2 and the lid unit3 from the surroundings, the protection film 11 may be formed such thatonly the perimeter of the gap between the container main body 2 and thelid unit 3 is covered with the protection film 11.

Accordingly, the inside of the container main body 2 can be kept cleanwith the simple structure, and the semiconductor wafers stored in thecontainer main body 2 can be prevented from contaminating.

(2) In the above embodiment, the adhesion properties are imparted to theentire backside of the protection film 11. However, the adhesionproperties may be imparted to only the peripheral portion of therectangle protection film 11. Further, the adhesion properties may notbe imparted to the surface facing to the gap between the container mainbody 2 and the lid unit 3, but the surface may be charged to absorb theparticles. In this case, a sheet having an electrostatic property isbonded to the surface facing to the gap between the container main body2 and the lid unit 3 in the protection film 11. When only the surfacefacing the gap between the container main body 2 and the lid unit 3 canbe charged in the protection film 11, only the surface facing the gap ischarged. The entire lower surface of the protection film 11 may becharged. The sheet having an electrostatic property may be bonded to theentire lower surface of the protection film 11. In this case, needlessto say, the upper surface of the protection film 11 is not charged.

(3) The thin plate supporting container 1 of FIG. 1 is shown by way ofillustration in the above embodiment. However, the invention is notlimited to the thin plate supporting container 1, but the invention canalso be applied to all the thin plate supporting containers having thestructure in which the gap is formed between the container main body 2and the lid unit 3. Even if this case, the same operations and effectsas for the embodiment can be achieved.

1. A thin plate supporting container which stores thin-plates thereinwhile the inside of the container is kept clean, the containercomprising: a container main body in which the thin-plates are stored;and a lid unit which blocks the container main body, wherein aprotection film is provided while a gap between the lid unit and thecontainer main body is covered with the protection film.
 2. A thin platesupporting container according to claim 1, wherein adhesion propertiesare imparted to the protection film such that the protection film isattachable to and detachable from the lid unit and the container mainbody.
 3. A thin plate supporting container according to claim 1, whereinthe protection film covers the entire side surface of the lid unit inthe container main body to which the lit unit is attached.
 4. A thinplate supporting container according to claim 1, wherein the protectionfilm covers the entire perimeter of the gap between the lid unit and thecontainer main body in the container main body to which the lid unit isattached.
 5. A thin plate supporting container according to claim 2,wherein the protection film covers the entire side surface of the lidunit in the container main body to which the lit unit is attached.
 6. Athin plate supporting container according to claim 2, wherein theprotection film covers the entire perimeter of the gap between the lidunit and the container main body in the container main body to which thelid unit is attached.